5 homemade remedies to eradicate garden insects

Monday

Mar 26, 2012 at 12:01 AMMar 26, 2012 at 1:55 AM

Keeping insects from damaging your garden plants can seem like a daunting task. Whether it’s aphids on tomato plants, squash bugs on zucchini or spider mites on flowers, you can reduce the number of these pesky bugs with five simple home remedies.

Randall Stokes | American Profile

Keeping insects from damaging your garden plants can seem like a daunting task. Whether it’s aphids on tomato plants, squash bugs on zucchini or spider mites on flowers, you can reduce the number of these pesky bugs with five simple home remedies.

Soap solution
Several garden pests can be controlled with a soap and water solution. Add 3 tablespoons of dishwashing soap to 1 gallon of water. Spray the solution on the infested plants’ leaves, wetting thoroughly. Don’t rinse. This treatment can be used to combat spider mites and soft-bodied insects such as aphids and whiteflies. Japanese beetles can be seen easily on fruits, vegetables and other plants. These hard-shelled insects can be picked off the infested plant and drowned in a bucket of soapy water.

Canola oil
Most horticultural oils kill insects through suffocation. These oils also can kill insect eggs as the oil penetrates the shells and disturbs the metabolic and respiratory process of the insect, reports entomology specialist Whitney Cranshaw from the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Office. Canola oil, the kind you keep in your pantry, can be used to control insects as well. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, “Canola oil appears to have no adverse effects on humans or the environment.”

Rubbing alcohol
Dab basic rubbing alcohol onto the leaves of plants infested with spider mites, whiteflies and aphids. Allow the alcohol to sit on the plants’ leaves for about two to three hours and rinse thoroughly with water. This treatment may take more than one application.

Garlic oil spray
Georgia College State University suggests a simple recipe for garlic oil spray. Begin by soaking 3 ounces of minced garlic cloves in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil for 24 hours. Add one-quarter ounce liquid soap to 1 pint of water and slowly mix with the soaked garlic. Stir thoroughly and strain before storing in a glass jar. To treat plants infested with aphids, whiteflies and spider mites, add about 2 tablespoons of this mixture to a pint of water and spray on the leaves.

Baking soda and soap
A baking soda and soap mixture can be used to reduce harmful mildew from plants. Mix 1 gallon warm water with 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon dishwashing soap. It mixes best if you dissolve the baking soda in the warm water first, then add the soap. Remove any mildew-infected leaves from the plant, then spray the rest with the treatment.

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